2013 Annual Report Project Narratives

2

Dairy Research Institute
Examining the Effects of Consuming a Diet Comprising of Full-Fat Milk on Metabolic Health Markers .

Principal Investigator: J. Kraft

Accomplishments & Outputs:
Given that dairy products represent the major food group which continues to be targeted in efforts to reduce saturated fat intake, this project examines the effect of whole (full-fat) dairy consumption on biological markers (insulin sensitivity, postprandial lipid metabolism, and circulating biomarkers of inflammation) associated with the metabolic syndrome. The protocol package was submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and approved. Research orders (protocols) for nurses and Clinical Research Center staff were developed. We designed menus for the three research diets to be fed in the study (baseline diet, experimental diet, and control diet) and sent them out for chemical (nutrient) component analysis for validation and verification. We initiated study subject recruitment using flyers (posted in public settings), local newspapers, and UVM websites. The next stage of this project is proceeding with the feeding trial.

Publications:
Experiment in progress; no publication to report yet.

2

Hatch
Personality traits predictors of healthy diet and obesity .

Principal Investigator: T. Sun

Accomplishments & Outputs:
The purpose of our project is to examine the hierarchical trait predictors of healthy eating and obesity among the US and Chinese adults. For the past project year, we have been focusing on refining the measures of our concepts and testing the models among college-age adults. During this period, we tested our survey questionnaire among more US college students (n = 200). With the assistance from an undergraduate student, we did more literature reviews on healthy eating. Our literature reviews have helped the PI develop two more grant proposals (with one about healthy diet among teenagers in Vermont and the other about meal proportions and diet). Based on the US and Chinese college student samples (n = 569), we modeled our cross-cultural data (with healthy eating as the dependent variable) and sent out our manuscript for review by Journal of American College Health. The journal did not accept the paper due to "the narrowness of the topic." Another criticism was that our study used a "complicated analysis" for a "somewhat straight forward design." Thus we will need a further justification on why we test the applicability of a hierarchical trait model of healthy eating across two different cultures. We will continue to refine the paper and submit to a journal related to psychology and health. Between now and next September, we will take the final step to collect the data on both healthy eating and obesity (along with a new measure of physical exercises) among adults aged 18+ in US and China (not limited to college students). Our preliminary hypothesize that health motivation and body shape concern would mediate the relationships between five-factor model (FFM) personality traits and healthy diet among both US and Chinese college subjects. In our study, we treated health motivation as an internal motive and body shape concern as an external motive in one hierarchical structure. Our path model first covered all the subjects combined. Then we developed separate path models for American and Chinese students. Some of our findings replicated the few previous studies on the personality-diet relationship. For example, for both combined and country-specific samples, conscientiousness was found to be a direct predictor of healthy diet. Conscientiousness also predicted healthy motivation, while neuroticism was a consistently positive predictor of body shape concern. Openness to experience was a significant predictor of healthy diet only among the Chinese students, but not among US students. Our independent samples t-test also showed that American students scored significantly higher than their Chinese counterparts in terms of healthy diet, although they did not differ significantly in health motivation and body shape concerns. Another trait that differentiates Chinese data from US data is introversion/extraversion. Introversion was irrelevant to body shape concern and healthy diet for the US samples, but predicted body shape concern for the Chinese samples. Compared to openness to experience and introversion/extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism appear to be more culturally universal trait predictors (direct or indirect) of healthy diet.

Publications:
Based on the critical reviews we received from Journal of American College Health, we will revise our manuscript and send it out to a journal related to psychology and health.

2a

Hatch
Strategies to detect and mitigate Listeria in artisan cheese facilities .

Principal Investigator: C. Donnelly

Accomplishments & Outputs:
During the project period, we assessed survival of Listeria monocytogenes during 60 days of aging in washed rind artisan cheeses. Cheeses were produced at a commercial facility and washed once in a brine solution consisting of 3%NaCl and .5 DCU each of R2R and GEO 15 (Danisco, Denmark) per 1000ml of sterile deionized water. After the first wash the cheeses were transferred to lab scale cheese aging chambers where drying and ripening of the cheese was conducted. Cheeses were inoculated with L. monocytogenes at levels of 100 cfu/cm2 to mimic European Union limits. Cheeses were washed daily, with alternate surfaces being washed on alternate days, until surface mold began. Cheeses were turned daily until day 50 of ripening at which point the cheese were wrapped in parchment paper and placed back in the aging chamber with no added humidity following the procedure of the commercial manufacturer. Cheese samples were analyzed upon receipt, after pathogen inoculation (day 1) and during ripening. Samples (25g) were enumerated on CHROMagarTM Listeria plates. For the control cheeses (and instances where the above procedure did not produce detectable colonies of L. monocytogenes) cheese samples were enriched and screened for Listeria spp. using the DuPont Qualicon BAX. The pH of experimental cheeses was measured throughout aging, and the visual appearance of the cheese was recorded each day to monitor rind development. We also analyzed the growth interactions between L. monocytogenes and Pseudomonas spp. isolated from the surface of our experimental washed rind cheese. By the end of the 70-day study period the ripening conditions of the lab scale aging chambers conformed to the standards for washed rind cheese established by the commercial producer. During the first 2 weeks of the aging process the experimental cheeses experienced rind development that mimicked the rind development of the commercial cheese. However, in 2 of the 3 trials surface growth of Pseudomonas spp. was observed as florescent surface growth. Increased Pseudomonas spp. growth was associated with unfavorable rind development. All control cheeses and the cheeses from 1 of the 3 trials did not experience changes in rind development due to Pseudomonas spp. growth. The surface microflora developed during each of 3 independent trials did not exhibit sufficient anti-listerial activity to be used as a food safety tool. Pseudomonas spp. isolates from the surface of experimental cheese did not exhibit anti-listerial activity against any of the 6 individual L. monocytogenes strains used. All 6 of the L. monocytogenes strains tested did not exhibit anti-pseudomonas spp. potential (as measured by observable zones of clearing on Pseudomonas spp. bacterial lawns). These results were identical across 4 independent trials. Our continuing work will utilize genomic DNA extraction and pyrosequencing to identify microbial communities within the experimental and treatment cheeses. We will work with our experimental cheese making system to evaluate the impact of bacteriophages and competitive cultures in controlling Listeria growth on washed rind cheeses.

Publications:
none

2b

Pennsylvania State University
Enhancing Food Security in Underserved Populations in the Northeast Through Sustainable Regional Food Systems .

Principal Investigator: L. Berlin

Accomplishments & Outputs:
This multi-state, 5-year project was designed to assess whether greater reliance on regionally-produced foods could improve food access and affordability for disadvantaged communities, while also benefiting farmers, food supply chain firms, and others in the food system. During year-three of the project, a number of accomplishments were achieved in sites across the Northeast U.S., including Vermonts Northeast Kingdom. Store intercept surveys were conducted to identify consumer views and shopping-related practices. Store inventories were conducted to assess the availability of healthy, regionally produced, affordable foods in independently owned markets. To help researchers more broadly identify the role of regionally produced foods in improving food access in disadvantaged communities across the Northeast, modeling is underway that incorporates knowledge about food production, supply chains and consumer needs and interests. At the community level, summaries of store intercept surveys were provided to store owners to improve their knowledge of their shoppers views. To inform colleagues about this work, presentations were held at the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) meeting in February 2013 in Saratoga Springs, NY, and at the Annual meeting of the Agriculture and Human Values Society in East Lansing, Michigan in June, 2013. In the coming year, efforts will increasingly be focused on outreach to communities and colleagues. Work is currently underway to develop an on-line Extension Community of Practice focused on local and regional foods. Research is also underway to assess community readiness to engage in improving food access in the eight Northeast sites. The results of the community readiness research will be used to identify appropriate community-based outreach and education in the coming year.

Publications:
none

2b

Hatch
Exploring a Food Systems Approach to Improve Vermont Food Insecurity .

Principal Investigator: L. Berlin

Accomplishments & Outputs:
This project was developed to identify novel ways that diverse food system sectors in Vermont could help increase access to healthy foods for all Vermonters, and thereby contribute to a reduction in food insecurity. We were also interested in identifying perceived barriers to meeting this goal. Towards this end, six focus groups were conducted with members of Vermont's Farm to Plate working groups, as well as the Farm to Plate Food Access Cross-Cutting Team. A total of 37 food systems leaders participated in the focus groups that were held from November 2012 through August 2013. Participants provided their views on 1) defining the problem, 2) potential causes of food insecurity and lack of food access,3) how the Farm to Plate network might be organized to most effectively address this critical issue, and 4) potential new systems approaches to improving food access. Transcripts of the focus groups were coded and analyzed to identify relevant themes. A presentation of results was made to the Farm to Plate Food Access Cross-Cutting Team, and then to the Farm to Plate Network of approximately 250 people at the annual gathering in October 2013. Next steps involve production of a written report. Through this work it became clear that Vermonters hold a range of views about the definitions and causes of food insecurity. While some food leaders identify societal or systems-based issues as being at the root of food insecurity or lack of food access, others are more likely to consider individual or household factors such as lack of education, skills, or motivation. Future pursuits will include further exploration of Vermonters perceptions about the human right to food, development of a common definition of food access, and development of measures that better assess food insecurity and lack of food access for Vermonters.

Publications:
none

2b

Hatch
Organizational Partnerships: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Food Industry .

Principal Investigator: S. Heiss

Accomplishments & Outputs:
The purpose of this project was to explore the relationship between the food industry and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the messages that emerge in and from this relationship about health, food, and the body. The measurable outcomes of this project were: (1) collected and transcribed ethnographic data at FNCE (activity), 2) collected and transcribed interview data with FNCE participants (activity), (3) analyzed ethnographic and interview data. To disseminate the information to communities of interest I 4) plan to submit 2 articles to the 2014 National Communication Association Meeting and the 2014 ASFS/AFHVS Annual Meeting and Conference and 5) am currently writing 2 articles for submission to a peer-reviewed journals (Health Communication and to Food, Culture, and Society). Based on the outcomes of this project, I plan to write 1 additional article using the data. I would like to submit this article to the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, which has an audience of dieticians and nutritionists. I have also submitted a follow-up HATCH grant to collect more data with regards to the expo part of the FNCE conference.

Publications:
None.

2b

Dairy Research Institute
Acceptance of Reformulated Flavored Milk in Schools .

Principal Investigator: R. Johnson

Accomplishments & Outputs:
This project is a continuation of on-going research evaluating the acceptance of lower calorie, reformulated flavored milk in schools. As the ten northeast and southern school districts involved with the plate waste/milk consumption portion of the primary study switched to fat-free, low added sugars flavored milk, the school nutrition directors were re-enrolled and each school will be revisited for two additional plate waste studies (the year the milk changed and the following year). As of the 2012-2013 school year, all of these districts were offering fat-free, low added sugars flavored milk. School nutrition directors are being asked to provide copies of six weeks of milk shipment and usage records for each school, as well as monthly school meal participation rates. These participation rates, consumption, shipment and usage data will be compared to data collected for the 2010 study, as well as subsequent visits. Based on any significant changes in milk consumption and/or acceptance, the impact on shortfall nutrients (Vitamin D, calcium and potassium) will be modeled. Milk consumption in schools is similar between schools offering standard vs lower-calorie flavored milk. Control schools offering standard flavored milk (>150 calories/8 oz) were identified in the northeast and south. Demographic profiles were created to closely match SES and census indicators with those reformulated schools that were randomly chosen from districts that both enrolled in a timely fashion and indicated they were interested in participating in the plate waste portion of the study. Milk cartons were collected in five control schools and four reformulated schools in May and June of 2010. While there was a trend towards less consumption of lower-calorie flavored milk; when adjusted for SES, gender and region, there were no significant differences in consumption. However, since none of the milks originally sampled were in full compliance with the newly released USDA proposed rule for school meals, it continues to be important to understand the impact of changes to flavored milk on children's consumption in schools. Subsequently, as schools have switched to fully USDA/IOM compliant milk, additional plate waste visits were conducted during spring 2011, 2012 and 2013. Through 2012, overall milk consumption remained steady across all three time points (2010, 2011, 2012). However, at the school level, milk consumption varied from school to school. Milk consumption increased in the poorest school. However consumption decreased in one school where plastic containers were replaced with less expensive milk cartons, and did not recover one year later. When the intake of key shortfall nutrients was modeled based on the decline in milk consumption, children in this school likely fell short of the nutrient targets set for schools by the Institute of Medicine for calcium, potassium and vitamin D. Analyses of shipment and meal participation are underway, pending additional data collection. Plate waste visits to each school were completed by the end of June 2013 and data analysis is underway.

Publications:
Yon BA, Johnson RK, Berlin L. School nutrition directors' perspective on flavored milk in schools. J Child Nutr and Mngt, 2013;37 - http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Content.aspx?id=18834.

Yon BA, Johnson RK. The Right Start: School Breakfast. President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. http://www.fitness.gov/blog-posts/right-start-breakfast.html,September 17, 2013.

Yon, BA and Johnson RK. School children's consumption of fat-free, low added sugar flavored milk. FASEB J. March 29, 2012. 26;377.5.

Yon, BA and Johnson RK. School children's acceptance of fat-free, low added sugars flavored milk. FASEB J. April 9, 2013; 27:334.

Yon BA, Johnson RK. Modeling the effects of declining milk consumption in school on children's intake of key shortfall nutrients. J Acad Nutr and Diet. 2013;113(9)S3:A88.

2b

American Heart Association - National
Evaluation Project of the American Heart Association Teaching Gardens Pilot Program .

Principal Investigator: R. Johnson

Accomplishments & Outputs:
The American Heart Association (AHA) developed the Teaching Gardens Program to launch school gardens across the United States. Teaching Gardens provide school children with opportunities to learn about food and nutrition while planting, maintaining, harvesting, and preparing fruits and vegetables from their school garden. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of AHA Teaching Gardens on students' preferences, self-efficacy, food systems learning (FSL), gardening skills, and social norms with regards to the consumption of fruit and vegetables. Twelve schools awarded funding from the AHA to begin Teaching Gardens were invited to participate in the study. Teachers were instructed to administer surveys to their fourth grade students one week prior to planting or any other garden activities and again to the same group of students within one week of harvesting the garden. Survey questions were based on Social Cognitive Theory. Twelve participating schools returned pre-test responses (n = 390), and seven returned post-test responses (n = 317). Two schools were selected by the AHA to act as control schools (pre-test, n = 173; post-test, n = 146). Students at the control schools also provided the pre- and post-test survey questionnaires but did not participate in any gardening activities. Consistent with previous studies, the Teaching Gardens improved students' gardening skills, but did not significantly improve psychosocial determinants of health behavior. There was some indication that students in the high minority and high free and reduced price lunch eligibility schools were more impacted by the gardening program. Further research is needed to examine whether the AHA Teaching Gardens program can significantly improve childhood fruit and vegetable consumption over time.

Publications:
Pharis M, Roche E, Kolodinsky J, Johnson RK. Evaluation of a school-based garden education program. University of Vermont student scholars poster competition, finalist. October 2012.

2b

Hatch
Assessing school children's fruit and vegetable intake; a feasiblity study .

Principal Investigator: R. Johnson

Accomplishments & Outputs:
As interventions aim to increase school children's fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption, feasible, reliable, and valid dietary assessment methods are needed. Our research team tested the feasibility, reliability, and validity of methods assessing children's F/V consumption during school lunch. F/V consumption was assessed on lunch trays from third- to fifth-grade children over eight days using weighed plate waste (WPW), digital imaging (DI), and digital imaging with observation (DI+O). Two Vermont elementary schools participated in the study (327 and 631 students enrolled). Reliability was assessed by percent agreement and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Validity was assessed by Pearson correlations, paired t-tests, and Bland-Altman plots. Our research team found that DI was feasible to measure F/V consumption with 31-68 trays collected from 50-80 distributed per visit. No F/V items were selected on 16% of trays. Reliability was acceptable for DI; percent agreement was 96% and the ICC was 0.92. F/V consumption was compared to WPW using DI (n=162) and DI+O (n=164). DI (r≥0.91) and DI+O (r≥0.95) were highly correlated with WPW for consumption of fruits, vegetables, and F/V combined (P<0.001). Group mean F/V consumption using DI (96.7 g) and DI+O (99.3 g) were within 1.0 g of WPW and not significantly different from WPW (DI P=0.56; DI+O P=0.38). Bland-Altman limits of agreement for individual F/V consumption were -32.9 to 31.3 g using DI and -25.0 to 26.8 g using DI+O. We concluded that DI is feasible and reliable for assessing children's F/V consumption during school lunch. DI and DI+O were valid for assessing mean consumption but less precise for estimating individual consumption. Valid estimations of F/V consumption were achieved using DI without cafeteria observations, thereby reducing labor and time. Thus, DI is especially promising for assessing children's F/V consumption during school lunch. Our work resulted in seven peer-reviewed publications to date.

Publications:
Taylor JT, Johnson RK. The school day just got healthier. President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. http://www.fitness.gov/blog-posts/the_school_day_just_got_healthier.html November 2012.

Taylor JT, Johnson RK. Farm to school as a strategy to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption: research and recommendations. Nutrition Bulletin, 2013, 38: 70-79.

Taylor JT, Yon BA, Johnson RK. The development of a reliable and feasible measure of school children's fruit and vegetable consumption. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, August 2012.

Taylor JT, Yon BA, Johnson RK. The development of a reliable and feasible measure of school children's fruit and vegetable consumption. FASEB J, April 9, 2013; 27:621.2.

Taylor JT, Yon BA, Johnson RK. The development of a valid measure of school children's fruit and vegetable consumption. FASEB J, April 9, 2013; 27:621.1.

Yon BA, Taylor JT, Amin SA, Johnson RK. Elementary School Children's Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Schools With and Without Farm to School Programs. J Nutr Educ and Behav, 2013:45(4S);S74.

Amin SA, Taylor JT, Yon BA, Johnson RK*. Elementary School Children's Fruit and Vegetable Selections in an Offer Versus Serve Environment. J Acad Nutr and Diet, 2013;113(9)S3:A88.

2b

Hatch
Understanding cheese crystals as a means to differentiate and add value to artisan cheeses .

Principal Investigator: P. Kindstedt

Accomplishments & Outputs:
Artisanal cheese making has become a vibrant and highly visible component of the Vermont dairy industry. Artisan cheeses must command premium prices in the marketplace in order to be economically sustainable, therefore, they must be readily differentiated from lower cost conventional cheeses through quality attributes that render them more interesting and satisfying, and thus worth paying more for. Crystallization in cheese is a fascinating phenomenon that has the potential to differentiate long-aged artisanal cheeses from lower cost conventional alternatives. It has long been recognized that long-aged cheeses tend to develop crystals within the body and/or at the surface more frequently than do cheeses aged for shorter durations. The growing popularity of long-aged artisanal cheeses in the U.S. appears to be coinciding with increases in the incidence and diversity of crystals found in domestically produced artisan cheeses. We hypothesize that crystallization phenomena in artisanal cheeses can be related to, and are accentuated by, the traditional practices used in cheese making and aging. Therefore, specific forms of crystallization may be viewed as a signature of traditional practices, i.e., a positive feature that differentiates long-aged artisan cheeses from many conventional cheeses and sets them apart. The general objectives of this project are to characterize the occurrence of visible crystals in long aged cheeses, identify factors that predispose specific cheeses to specific forms of crystallization, and establish relationships between predisposing factors and traditional practices used in artisanal cheese making. Several accomplishments have been achieved so far towards these goals: 1. We have determined that surface crystals on Cheddar cheese can be very complex and include as many as 4 distinct crystal entities, including calcium lactate pentahydrate (CLP), tyrosine, calcium phosphate and an unknown crystal.; 2. We have identified this same unknown crystal in long aged Gouda cheese; 3. We have identified large internal crystals embedded in the body of artisanal raw milk Cheddar cheese to be D(+)/L(-) CLP, a crystalline form almost certainly associated with raw milk microflora; 4. We have identified large internal crystals embedded in the body of long aged Gouda cheese and Asiago cheese to be tyrosine; 5. We have identified extremely large internal crystalline regions embedded in the bodies of long aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses to be an unusual crystalline form of Leucine; 6. We have established for the first time the x-ray diffraction pattern for the L(-) form of CLP, which now enables the racemic D(+)/L(-) form and the L(-) forms of CLP to be rapidly and easily differentiated. This discovery will enable powdered x-ray diffractometry to serve as a powerful diagnostic tool for evaluating the factors that predispose CLP crystal formation in cheese. We presented our research at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association, and will do so again in 2014. We have one journal article in preparation that will be submitted to the Journal of Dairy Science and a second in the planning stage.

Publications:
Tansman, G. P.S. Kindstedt and J.M. Hughes. 2013. Application of an improved X-ray diffraction method to evaluate cheese crystals. J. Dairy Sci. 96(E. Suppl. 1):195

2b

New England Dairy & Food Council
Evaluating the Impact of Milk Packaging Changes in School .

Principal Investigator: B. Yon

Accomplishments & Outputs:
Milk is an important source of shortfall nutrients in children's diets. Preliminary data collected by our team suggest that when milk packaging changes from plastic bottles to paper cartons, school children's milk consumption declines significantly. Schools that have used plastic bottles are switching to paper cartons as a cost saving measure. We will measure the impact of this change on children's milk consumption in school. Milk consumption has been measured in an elementary school since 2010. Our team visited three schools (elementary, middle and high school) in September 2013 to measure milk consumption during the first month of the packaging change. We are currently collecting each school's milk usage and milk shipment data prior to the packaging change to establish a baseline, as well as records for the first two months of the current school year. We will compare consumption, usage and shipment over time and revisit each school during the winter months for follow-up measures.

Publications:
None.

2c

Hatch
Consumer sensory perception of Vermont artisan cheese: a mixed-methods approach .

Principal Investigator: A. Trubek

Accomplishments & Outputs:
This transdisciplinary research project investigates sensory perception and evaluation of Vermont artisan cheese. Many of the attributes that seem critical to the consumer experience of local products of small-scale agriculture, whether a food is artisanal, sustainable, produced locally or by hand are just the type of properties sensory scientists tend to define as extrinsic properties. A mounting body of evidence demonstrates that many kinds of extrinsic properties play significant roles in sensory perception. In 2013, pursuant to the project objectives, we conducted a study of consumer sensory perception of Vermont artisan cheese. We sampled 182 consumers, and collected affective and descriptive data. We demonstrated that there are connections between personal and social contexts, production information, liking, and perception; this confirmed our overall hypothesis that sensory experience is social experience, and must be understood through a mixed-methods approach that integrates sensory science and social theory. We were also able to generate useful sensory descriptions of cheeses using novel sensory methodologies. This accomplishes objectives 1-3 of the Hatch research project, and paves the way for further research using these methodologies to broaden and elucidate the current findings. During this time we also initiated the research for objective 4 of the project: Use qualitative research methods to understand the role of cheese professionals in building social networks around Vermont artisan cheese and relate this data to the already extant dataset on the experience of consumers. First, we did ethnographic research with cheese professionals in the Vermont artisan cheese network. This entailed one week of participant-observation at a specialty cheese shop outside of Boston, MA and a second site of participant-observation was at the annual conference of the American Cheese Society in Madison, WI.This involved working directly with several cheese retail professionals, which allowed me to learn firsthand what kinds of specialized knowledge about Vermont cheese they transmit to customers, how they employ narratives (or cheese stories) to communicate this information to customers, what types of relationships they have with Vermont producers, and how they get this information from Vermont producers. The new knowledge gained from ethnographic observation was used to design a social network survey for Vermont artisan cheesemakers. The questionnaire, which was distributed via email, asks producers first to identify the retailers in New England/New York that sell their cheese (i.e., their regional distribution network). It then asks them a series of question for each selected retailer which will provide a deeper understanding of their relationship with cheese professionals at this particular store. The data collected using this survey will form the basis for a social network analysis to be completed by June 2014. This will show, among other things, the density of the Vermont artisan cheese distribution network and which retailer nodes appear to be central to the functioning and vibrancy of this network

Publications:
Consumer sensory perception of cheese depends on context: a study using comment analysis and linear mixed models. Jake Lahne, Amy Trubek and Marcia Pelchat. Food Quality and Preference. Available On-line October 30, 2013

2d

Hatch
Burn and earn: Incentivizing physical activity in college freshman .

Principal Investigator: J. Harvey-Berino

Accomplishments & Outputs:
The goal of this project was to determine the efficacy of offering financial incentives to first year college students to encourage physical activity behavior. Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group that got no incentives, a group that got incentives for the whole year and a group that got incentives for the fall semester and then got no incentives for the spring semester. Students who got incentives were more likely to attend the fitness center and continued incentives worked better than discontinuing incentives. The results of this project have been published and presented at department seminars and national scientific conferences. In the future, questions remain about the appropriate schedule and amount of incentives that may be needed to encourage and sustain physical activity behavior.

Publications:
Pope EF, Harvey-Berino J. Burn and Earn: Incentivizing Exercise During Fall Semester For College First-Year Students. Preventive Medicine. 2013 Mar;56(3-4):197-201.

2d

Hatch
Time Use and Obesity: Adding a forgotten component to the energy balance equation .

Principal Investigator: J. Kolodinsky

Accomplishments & Outputs:
This project investigates the relationships between eating place, time use, and obesity. We have created two data sets using propensity matching: one that links the American Time Use Data (ATUS) to Consumer Expenditure Data and One that links the ATUS to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Using multivariate regression techniques we have found a relationship between time spent preparing meals at home and healthy weight in both men and women. Further, we found associations between more time spent, less screen time and more time spent in physical activity and healthy weight for both genders. Results have been disseminated in journal articles and at academic conferences. We will continue to explore the data, diving more deeply into the possibility that preparing and eating meals at home contribute to the maintenence of a healthy weight. In addition, we are exploring relationships between weight and parent/child time use in activities associated with both healthy and unhealthy weights.

Publications:
Kolodinsky, J, R. Johnson, R. Watts, S. Heiss, and M. Moser (2013). Exercising Our Right to Health with Excise Taxes on Sugary Beverages. Food Politic: Journal of Food News and Culture. May 7. Available: http://www.foodpolitic.com/exercising-our-right-to-health-with-excise-taxes-on-sugary-beverages/

Berlin, Linda, Jane Kolodinsky, and Kim Norris (2013). Farm-to-School: Implications for Child Nutrition. Journal of School Health. 83(8): 589-95. (IF 1.34)

Roche, Conner, Kolodinsky, Buckwalter, Berlin, Powers (2012). Social cognitive theory as a framework for considering farm to school programming. Childhood Obesity. (8: 4), 322-328.

Li, M., Q. Wang, and J. Kolodinsky (2012). Estimating the optimal premium rates for credential food attributes: A case study in the northeast United States, Journal of Food Distribution Research. Volume 43, Issue 2: 51-63.